2005 SEASON
MAY 5-8: HOUSTON @ ATLANTA
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2005 (Game 27) – Houston @ Atlanta
Atlanta 9, Houston 3
II think this is the worst game I’ve seen all season. Brandon Backe, just out of the hospital recovering from pneumonia (and probably insisting on taking his start) should have stayed in bed. What were Garner and Hickey thinking? Backe was really not well enough to pitch -- weak, poor control, giving up his first 4 runs in the first inning before the first out. He managed to stay in for another 4 1/3 innings, catching 7 ER on 9 hits, 1 BB, and 1 K.
Harville came in in the 6th to relieve Backe, with one on and one out. He promptly gave up 3 walks in a row, with a wild pitch thrown in for good luck. One run was walked in, another on a ground out, another on a single, before he finally managed to strike someone out and end the miserable inning. That put the score at 9-3. Springer, Wheeler, and Franco finished off the last 2 innings without any more damage.
The Astros did score – just not enough to play for keeps. For the 8th game in a row, they scored in the first inning, starting off the game with two runs. But that was it until Ensberg got a solo homer in the 5th. Atlanta pitcher John Thompson decided to be the starter and the closer, pitching the full 9 innings (first time for the Braves this year). All in all, a pretty miserable game.
High points:
- Scoring in the first inning is a great start to the game. (But that really needs to be a prelude to a habit of scoring, not instead of scoring for the rest of the game.)
- Biggio got his 11th double in his first at-bat, and scored on Mike Lamb’s sac fly. He’s leading the NL in doubles.
- Willie T kicked off the game with an infield single (#11). He’s leading the NL in infield hits and SBs.
Disappointments:
- The Astros are now 1-11 on the road.
- Bagwell sat out another game, due to shoulder pain. This is the first time that he’s sat out two games in a row since 1998, when he had a lacerated knee. After a few swings at batting practice, he decided that he couldn’t play tonight. This is so out of character for Bagwell that it’s got me worried.The only good thing about having him sit out the game was that I think he’d look really dorky in a sombrero.
- Everett had a fielding error. The Astros have very few errors this year -- but Everett and Biggio have most of them.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats are off today. They won last night, after I went to sleep.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- Milwaukee beat Chicago again, 6-5. That’s a 7-game win streak for the Brewers, and a 5-game losing streak for the Cubbies.
- San Diego beat St. Louis, 8-3. At least Houston doesn’t lose any ground in the standings.
Final123456789RHEHouston 200010000331Atlanta 40010400x9111W: J. Thomson (3-2) L: B. Backe (2-2) ==============================================================================
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2005 (Game 28)
Atlanta 9, Houston 4
SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2005 (Game 29)
Atlanta 4, Houston 1
SUNDAY, MAY 8, 2005 (Game 30)
Atlanta 16, Houston 0
If I thought that Thursday’s series opener was one of the worst games I’ve watched this year, the rest of the series proved that I was too quick to judge. There was much worse to come. The Astros totaled only 8 runs in the 4-game series, while Atlanta blew by them with 38 runs. The highlight of the series was Sunday, when Garner sat out all the Killer Bees (Bagwell injured, Bidge and Berkman resting). Garner’s remark on the 16-0 loss: “That was a god-awful game…Nobody can be that bad.” Well, yeah, right. Watching the game in Seattle, I was hoping that the Good Guys would lose by 20, and be so shocked by the experience that they’d all stop shaving and start hitting.
I was in Seattle for Mom’s 70th birthday celebration. Given the timezone difference, I managed to watch a couple of games live. (Friday night’s game ended before Shabbat, and Sunday afternoon’s game started at 10 Pacific time.) But I didn’t write them up until I got home.
High points:
- Berkman is back. But it was naïve to think that he’d come back thumping homers out of the stadium. It’s basically Spring Training for him. He was 1 for 7 in his first 2 games. He’s playing first, with Bagwell still out injured.
Disappointments:
- Horrible pitching. Oswalt’s start Friday was totally out of character – he gave up 3 runs in each of the first two innings, seemed to settle down for a couple of innings, then gave up 3 more in the 5th before Garner pulled him. The numbers probably look worse than he deserved: Several of the hits that he gave up were fly balls that really should have been caught. But 9 runs in 5 innings sucks. I groaned when he put Duckworth in to replace Oswalt, but miraculously, Ducky pitched 2 innings and Harville finished up without giving up any more runs. Duckworth even got his ERA down under 10!
- But Ducky reverted to form in Sunday’s blowout, when he gave up 5 ER in 2 innings, and returned to an 11+ ERA. He was in good company though; Astacio (the starter) gave up 8 in 5 innings, and Harville closed by giving up another 3 for grins.
- Pettitte pitched the best of the starters, giving up 3 runs in 7 innings on Saturday, but got the loss when the Astros failed to get past a single run (Berkman’s first hit and RBI of the season). Garner pitched Lidge, even though it wasn’t a save situation – but it wasn’t a good performance from him. He gave up one run on 3 hits, but racked up 2 more Ks. He’s leading the league for strikeouts by relievers, despite the low number of games he’s pitched in.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- I was too busy celebrating birthdays and grieving over the Astros to pay any attention to Washington. Out in Seattle they are more interested in the other Washington team.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- Cards beat the Padres 15-5 on Sunday. The losing pitcher for San Diego was Tim Redding (0-5). Redding gave up 8 ERs in 2/3 inning, then his replacement gave up another 3 runs before the inning ended. Glad Redding’s not in our rotation this year!
May 6
Final123456789RHEHouston 000101002471Atlanta « 33003000x9 110W: J. Smoltz (3-3) L: R. Oswalt (4-3)
May 7
Final123456789RHEHouston 000000010161Atlanta « 00010111x4 100W: H. Ramirez (2-2) L: A. Pettitte (2-3) S: D. Kolb (9)
May 8
Final123456789RHEHouston 000000000021Atlanta « 12500053x 16 170W: M. Hampton (4-1) L: E. Astacio (0-1)
